Shows at The Assembly Rooms

Ricky Tomlinson: Guilty My Arse

He promises that next year he’ll bring his comedy show to the Fringe, but right now Ricky Tomlinson has serious matters to discuss.

Mark Billingham and My Darling Clementine: The Other Half

Crime writer Mark Billingham and country band My Darling Clementine come together for The Other Half, a blend of storytelling and music about love, loneliness and broken promises.

Owen Jones: The Politics of Hope

In Owen Jones: The Politics of Hope, Jones proves himself to be an engaging and eloquent speaker without any airs of pretension.

Hooray for All Kinds of Things

Sandy Nelson’s comic play examines the intriguing events of the 2010 Reykjavik Municipal elections, in which comedian and actor, Jon Gnarr, became the Mayor of Iceland’s capital, d…

Wendy Hoose by Johnny McKnight

Glasgow-based Birds of Paradise Theatre Company is arguably Scotland’s most innovative and ground-breaking theatre company when it comes to exploring disability and producing ful…

Richard Wiseman: How to be Happy, Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

Richard Wiseman, psychologist and bestselling author of several popular psychology books, returns to the Fringe to talk for an hour about the psychology of perception, touching on …

Robin Ince's Reality Tunnel

“The thing I was going to show you – well there’s a few things to show you – but I want to tell you something else first,” says Robin Ince some time into this intellectua…

Charlotte Green: The News is Read

Listening to Charlotte Green talk for an hour on any subject is an enjoyable way to spend any afternoon, but hearing her talk about her long and distinguished career as a newsreade…

Worbey and Farrell's House Party

Ostensibly, Worbey and Farrell’s show is a piano recital.

Carol Ann Duffy and John Sampson

In a typically idiosyncratic twist Carol-Ann Duffy is collaborating with her ‘favourite’ court musician John Sampson for a reading of work from across her gargantuan oeuvre.

Liz Lochhead With Steve Kettley: Old Pals and Party Pieces

The second ever Scots Makar (national poet) Liz Lochhead has teamed up with saxophonist Steve Kettley for this nostalgic selection of her favourite poems from a 50-year career.

Pip Utton: Playing Maggie

Margaret Thatcher was – still is, two years after her death – a divisive figure, loved and hated in equal measure.

Don't Tell Him Pike: Part 2. More Tales from the Not So Stupid Boy...

Die-hard fans of classic BBC Sitcom Dad’s Army will particularly enjoy this panel discussion, Q&A and selection of nostalgic clips from Ian Lavender, aka Private Pike, and fellow…

The Last Laugh

Stand-up comedy and theatre rarely interact in meaningful ways.

Immigrant Diaries: Sajeela Kershi and Guests

Looking over my time at this year’s Fringe, there have been several topics that have come up time and time again.

Tom Stade: You’re Welcome!

When Tom Stade walks on stage you can tell he’s at home.

The Everlasting Book Tour: Where Literature, Comedy And Ian Macpherson Collide

Ian Macpherson is perhaps best known for a joke he came up with years ago: ‘They say you play at _____ twice in your career.

The Periodic Fable

Science and panto combine in this energetic family romp that means well, but ultimately fails to stick together as a whole.

Jane Austen's Persuasion: A New Musical Drama

Though Jane Austen is undoubtedly one of Britain’s most prominent literary names, Persuasion is perhaps her least widely read work.

Soweto Spiritual Singers: The Return

The Soweto Spiritual Singers are at the Fringe with two shows, this later one at the Assembly Rooms called The Return, is an uplifting and enjoyable hour of African spirituality.

Detention

Hijinks and flying kicks abound in this piece of non-verbal physical comedy from the Hong Kong-based Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio, last unleashed on an unsuspecting Fringe in 2012.

The Missing Hancocks: Live in Edinburgh! (Show A)

The Missing Hancocks is a genuine blast from the past.

Facebooked!

You know those moments that happen on the bus, or in the street, where you eavesdrop on someone’s conversation and gain a brief window into their world? Do you ever think that yo…

Simon Singh: The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets

Simon Singh has a very easy style and voice which belies the genius within.

Mary Beard: He-he-he! What Made the Ancient Romans Laugh?

Mary Beard is an unlikely rockstar.

Polly Toynbee and David Walker

In the lavish surroundings of the Assembly Rooms, Guardian journalists Polly Toynbee and David Walker dive straight in at the deep end.

David Kay

Successful stand-ups usually have a memorable on-stage persona; it may be manic, taciturn or just ‘nice’, but it’s what they’re remembered for.

Jim Al-Khalili: Quantum - Still Crazy After All These Years

I gave up studying all forms of science at the age of 15, so on the surface, I would not be the natural choice for Jim Al-Khalili’s Quantum – Still Crazy After All These Yea…

Mark Thompson: The Secrets of the Universe... Exposed

The welcome recording over the PA tells us that this event is part of the Assembly Rooms’ ‘Enchanting ideas’ series for a ‘more discerning audience’, getting a chuckle …

Lucy Worsley: A Very British Murder

Who doesn’t love a good murder? Most of Britain does apparently and this preoccupation is not a recent event.

Owen Jones: The Establishment

In the ironically grand setting of the Assembly Rooms, Owen Jones gave a rallying and convincing cry against the establishment.

Jerry Sadowitz: Card Tricks and Close-up Magic

Prepare to be offended and amazed.

Richard Wiseman: Night School

Night School is an odd ‘show’ that seems to hover somewhere between an entertaining lecture and a TED talk.

And They Played Shang-a-Lang

The show is narrated by a theatre director who is reflecting on his school days in 1970’s Edinburgh.

Bridge Over Troubled Lager (Volume 2)

Bridge Over Troubled Lager (Volume 2) from Rory McGrath and Philip Pope is an evening of easy listening funny tunes and mild jokes.

John O’Farrell: 25 Years of Writing Stupid Jokes

In John O’Farrell’s 25 Years of Writing Stupid Jokes, he tells the story of his comedy career: first as a writer on the likes of Spitting Image and Have I Got News for You a…

George Galloway: My Life in Five Games

George Galloway is best known as the fiercely pro-Palestinian Respect Party MP for West Bradford.

Jay Rayner: My Dining Hell

Jay Rayner is a real presence, a big guy with a big voice who is very comfortable with addressing an audience.

Ruby Wax: Sane New World

Only Ruby Wax would have the tenacity to walk on stage, hardly acknowledge the audience and make herself a cup of tea before beginning to even think about starting her show.

Cocktails with the Diva

The Oxford Dictionary describes ‘Diva’ as: “A celebrated female opera singer, a famous female singer of popular music, or a woman regarded as temperamental or haughty”.

Elaine C Smith

With three decades of performing under her belt, Elaine C.

The Pure, the Dead and the Brilliant

The Fringe’s late-summer position in the calendar means that few of those who visit the Scottish capital ever experience one particular form of indigenous theatre — pantomime…

Owen O’Neill: Red Noise

Owen O’Neill is a much better poet than he is a comic.

Siddhartha, the Musical

You’ve probably seen the posters featuring a half-naked man covered in oil- exactly what Herman Hesse had in mind when he wrote his classic philosophical novel.

The Fair Intellectual Club

In 1717, three young women strove to discover ‘what we might attain unto if we were as industrious to cultivate our minds as we are to adorn our bodies’, and so set up the soci…

Tom Stade: Decisions Decisions

Looking back at it, Tom Stade is the ideal performer to subdue the rowdy (but never disruptive) last-weekend-of-the-Fringe, Friday-night-on-George-Street, Assembly-Rooms-Ballroom c…

Concerto Without Orchestra

You might find yourself wondering how far into the past you’ve strayed during this excellent piano concert by Steven Worbey and Kevin Farrell.

Liz Lochhead: Somethings Old, Somethings New

Liz Lochhead’s solo spoken word show at Assembly Rooms opens with songs from Joni Mitchell’s delicately moody album ‘Blue’ on the sound system; appropriate not only for her…

The Amazing Bubble Man

Children will love this fun spectacle of bubble-blowing and even grown-ups will be impressed by the Amazing Bubble Man’s feats; not ten minutes into the show, I heard a Dad in fr…

Danny Bhoy: 12 Nights, 12 Charities

There’s a particular pleasure in seeing someone do their job incredibly well.

Rob Deering: Musicface

Cutting through the audience with a sunburst Fender acoustic guitar, Rob Deering attempts to capture the spirit of Richie Havens at Woodstock, before singing a frustratingly catchy…

Bette Davis Ain’t for Sissies

Writer and performer Jessica Sherr claims she has always been in love with the 1930s and 40s and it shows in this enjoyable and insightful one-woman show.

Bulletproof

“What happens when you think you’re being hilarious and other people just think you are causing anarchy?” Despite beginning with a gripping premise about censors, sensitivity a…

The Pitiless Storm

For all its claims of being a one-man show, the stage can get pretty crowded during The Pitiless Storm.

Fred MacAulay: The Frederendum

At the risk of damning Fred McAuley with faint praise, this is an extremely competent set.

Aye Right? How No?: The Comedy Countdown to the Referendum with Vladimir McTavish & Keir McAllister

Tensions are building north of the border.

Don't Tell Him Pike

Through the 60’s and 70’s BBC television went through a golden period for producing some of the best situation comedy, amongst which was the great Dad’s Army.

Hancock’s Last Half Hour by Heathcote Williams

“Ladies and gentlemen, I shall now bid you all good day.

Camille O’Sullivan: 10

You can’t help but wonder how many people fall in love with Camille O’Sullivan during her show each night.

Tom Shillue: Impossible

American stand-up Tom Shillue opens by asking why he, a comic on his first run at the Fringe, has the right to stand on stage for an hour and talk about himself.

Des Clarke: The Trouble with Being Des

The Trouble with Being Des, according to Des Clarke, is that he has an inner demon man child inside him which makes him “weird”—not least within the context of growing u…

A Split Decision

This topical drama casts Scotland and England in the roles of bickering husband and wife, mediated by a third party functioning as both marriage therapist and collective child of B…